Can driving be poetry? It can on a scenic and spectacular drive through New Mexico. Writer and Fathom contributor Kate Donnelly goes for a spin.

TAOS, New Mexico – During my week in Santa Fe, I opt for a 56-mile day trip to Taos (with my adventurous mom in the driver's seat). Taos is America's spiritual and historical past. Great artists and thinkers (Georgia O'Keefe, Ansel Adams, Carl Jung) have all passed through. So should you.

The road to take? The mountainous, winding High Road, of course, which involves a few stops:

Chimayo

1. El Santuario, in the Spanish village of Chimayo— a small adobe chapel where people gather for mass. There's a small room with a hole where visitors can procure "Holy Dirt" with magic healing properties. The afflicted rub the soil on their aches and pains.

3. Small villages like Córdova (noted for its woodcarving), Truchas (the summit town), Las Trampas, and Peñasco. It feels like driving through a painting of dramatic peaks, valleys, and vistas encompassed by mysterious Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The adobe backdrop makes it uniquely New Mexican. The weather is perfect. It's sunny, cool, and dry. Roll down your window and soak up fresh air of the lush Kit Carson National Forest.

5. Shop Starr Interiors for a striking, hand-loomed Indian rug; Taos General Store (223-C Paseo del Pueblo) for trinkets, decorative items, and Indian goods; and, if you are in the mood, the Nambé outlet for tabletop and homewares (109 N Plaza Taos).